A (Mostly) 80s Music Podcast: What Difference Does It Make?

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Rockin' Rob Tonkin Jun 07, 2024

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Music Industry executive Rob Tonkin has been a fixture in the business for over four decades. He's accumulated quite a few stories, so much so that he’ll be releasing his own memoir in very the near future (tentatively called "Rockin' Robbie"). Meanwhile, Rob joins us in our What Difference Does It Make virtual studio to share some of his stories, and to discuss some 80s music; specifically the year 1987, and songs 50 to 41 from the KROQ year-end chart.

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The dB's Stands For DeciBels May 31, 2024

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Exciting news for fans of power pop, as the dB's are releasing a reissue of their excellent debut LP, Stands for deciBels. Formed in New York City by four North Carolinians, The dB’s consist of singers-guitarists-songwriters Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple, bassist Gene Holder, and drummer Will Rigby. Amazingly, this remastered edition is the first time the set has been released on vinyl in the United States.

We're fortunate to have Peter and Will in the What Difference Does It Make virtual studio to discuss the joys and frustrations of being in an indie rock band in the early 80s.

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Marco Collins Gives Us Both The Glamour And The Squalor May 03, 2024

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Marco Collins may be best known as the Music Director at KNDD/The End in Seattle during the height of the grunge era. His career actually started at 91X in San Diego, but he had to commute to the station, located in Tijuana, Mexico, to get to his overnight shift. It's part glamour and part squalor. The Glamour & The Squalor also happens to be the name of his own documentary. We’re treated to a look into the life of Marco Collins, and we give him a chance to share his love of 80s music, as we discuss songs from the 1987 KROQ year-end chart.

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Midge Ure: Cataloging The Hits Apr 26, 2024

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The breadth of the Midge Ure music catalogue is one to behold. His career started in the 1970’s with the boy band, Slik, followed by Rich Kids through to Visage and Ultravox and a thriving solo career. That's even without mentioning the historic work he's done for Band Aid & Live Aid in the 80’s. We are thrilled Midge Ure can join us on the podcast.

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Lol Tolhurst Gives Us The History Of Goth Apr 19, 2024

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Founding member of The Cure and Rock Hall Inductee, Lol Tolhurst, joins the podcast to chat about his second book, entitled GOTH. It's a deep dive into the dark Romanticism of Goth music.

Of course, since we like to keep things upbeat, we also discuss the eclipse, family, sunny California, and his new album, Los Angeles, with his old friend Budgie, drummer from Siouxsie & The Banshees, and Jacknife Lee, producer of records by U2, REM, and Taylor Swift. Yes, we are mentioning Taylor Swift in our episode about Goth.

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Dylan Chambers Gets High Apr 12, 2024

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Dylan Chambers is one soulful dude, as a listen to his EPFor Your Listening Pleasure! will prove. His first single, "High (When I'm Low)," featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Dave Koz, will immediately put a smile on your face. Dylan steps into our studio to discuss his beginnings in Arlington, Texas, and his many collaborations with artists from Mark Ballas, (of Dancing With The Stars fame), to Aldae, co-songwriter of “Flowers", by Miley Cyrus. To top off our episode, Dylan plays an acoustic set for us that culminates with Hall & Oates "Sara Smile".

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Urgent! Rick Wills Hits The Trail For Foreigner Apr 05, 2024

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Foreigner is one of the world's best-selling bands of all time, with worldwide sales of more than 80 million records, but they are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yet. Rick Wills, bassist for the band, joins the podcast not only to push for Foreigner's entry into the Rock Hall, but to chat with us about his renowned career, including stints playing with David Gilmour, and discovering he was owed a lot of money as the co-writer of Peter Frampton's "Do You Feel Like We Do".

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It's Time To Follow Pearl Harbour Mar 22, 2024

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Pearl Harbour has a deep love of Rockabilly music. So much so that instead of recording another album on a major label with Pearl Harbor and The Explosions, she left the band to record a solo record. The result was the 1980 release, Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost Too. Unfortunately, the album was slightly ahead of its time, missing out on the 80s rockabilly revival from bands like The Stray Cats and The Blasters. Fortunately, we now have this re-release. Pearl joins the podcast to relive those times including stories about contributions from members of The Clash and Ian Dury & The Blockheads.

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Dave Tarnowski Creates Disappointing Affirmations Mar 08, 2024

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Dave Tarnowski, like everyone, has voices in his head, confirming and/or denying his worst fears. Unlike everyone, Dave has created an Instagram Account around the concept, with 2.2 million followers and counting. He has now turned that social media success into a book, entitled Disappointing Affirmations: Unfollow your dreams! However, for this episode, Dave talks about his true loves, Nick Cave, The Cure, and 80s teen sensation, Tiffany. We do manage to talk about the book as well, and Dave gives us the scoop on how he created the idea behind the memes.

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Dave Beasing Is The Sound That Brands Mar 01, 2024

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Dave Beasing joins the podcast this week. Dave is the CEO of Sound That BRANDS, a company that helps Brands tell their stories through audio-based marketing content…aka PODCASTS! Dave also has his own stories to share about growing up in Omaha, and his long career in radio. After the stories, Dave adds his thoughts about a ten-song chunk of music played on The World Famous KROQ in Los Angeles back in 1987, specifically #80-71 from the year-end chart.

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